The present invention relates to a shopping cart brake is automatically engaged in a stand-alone position and which must be manually disengaged by the user before moving the cart.
Typical shopping carts which are commercially available are manufactured to be free-wheeling and employ no brake system. These unrestrained free-wheeling shopping carts rolling freely around a parking lot causes damage from running into vehicles and shoppers, as well as causing accidents when the carts roll in front of moving vehicles. The present invention addresses the problem by means of a shopping cart brake. The shopping cart brake of the present invention is designed so that when the cart is left unattended the rear wheel or wheels will lock. If the carts are being stacked (put together) to be moved, the cart in back will automatically release the brake of the cart in front of it. Only the last cart's brake remains active. The brake of the last cart will stay activated until another cart is pushed into it and becomes the last cart in line, or until someone takes hold of the handle of the last cart, wherein the brakes of the last cart and all of the proceeding carts will be released so the "cart train" can be moved to the desired location.
Application of the shopping cart brakes of the present invention on existing free-wheeling carts will eliminate or at least cut down on the damage caused by parking lot attendants slamming the carts into one another, for the brake of the instant invention will require that the handle be depressed in order for user to move the carts.
There are other shopping cart brake devices known in the art; however, none of these devices have achieved commercial success due to the complexity of the devices, the cost, or because of the unadaptability of the brakes for a variety of difference style carts.
For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 3,501,164 shows a shopping cart in which brake shoe is connected to brake rod which is actuated by the pivoting of a cross member to actuate a rod through a pivot plate. When two carts are telescoped during nesting, the cross rod is contacted by vertical members of the upwardly pivoting gate pivoting plate to release the brake.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,095,211 shows a shopping cart having a brake plate with a brake cup for engaging the cart wheel and being actuated by arms through brake lever. During telescoping of the carts, the basket of one cart engages the rear wall of a second cart and raises the wall. This causes the wall to contact the arms of the brake lever, thus releasing the brake cup from engagement with the wheel.
A brake system for a shopping cart having a brake arm and a brake element which engages a wheel is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,958,537. During telescoping of two carts, an inclined rim of one cart engages the brake arm of an associated cart to thereby lift a link to release the brake. The control bar rides over a cam which is fixed to the side wall of the cart basket and releases the brake mechanism during telescoping of the carts.
Another shopping cart having a braking body for the wheel is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,840,388. The brake is actuated by an operating member through connecting straps. During nesting, the rear panel is pushed upwardly by the next cart, thereby raising the arm upwardly and releasing the brake mechanism.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,018,449, a brake mechanism for a shopping cart wheel utilizes a wheel lock having walls with edges for engaging the wheel. A second cart engages the frame member of the rear gate during nesting and pivots it upwardly, thereby actuating the cable to release the wheel lock.
Five U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,061,049, 3,458,015, 3,500,965, 4,976,447 and 5,046,748 show various brake mechanisms for cart structures. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,061,049, a brake shoe engages a caster wheel of a dump cart. U.S. Pat. No. 3,458,015 shows a shopping cart with a brake shoe for a wheel. The device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,500,965 shows a friction means for the wheel of a shopping cart. U.S. Pat. No. 4,976,447 shows a shopping cart having a concentric brake shoe for a wheel. In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 5,046,748 shows a walker having a brake shoe for a wheel, which brake shoe is actuated by a cable and handle. Three other references, U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,785,906, 3,112,121 and 4,084,663 show other cart structures having brake mechanisms which release during nesting.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a shopping cart brake which is automatically engaged in the stand-alone position locking the wheels of the cart, whereby the user must manually disengage the brakes to move the cart.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a brake assembly whereby upon stacking of the carts, one behind the other, the cart in the rear of the stack will automatically release the brake of the preceding cart in the stack. Only the brakes of the rear cart in the stack will remain activated, until another cart is pushed into it and becomes the rear cart in the stack, or until a user takes hold of the handle disengaged the brakes of the rear cart allowing movement of the stack.
It is yet another object of the present invention for the shopping cart brake of the present invention to be adaptable to work on any size of shopping cart and any design.